Mr. Jerry Tan, the Visitors Authority board member of Mariana Islands explained that tourism executives of Guam, the CNMI and Palau should arrange for a meet up and talk about the advantages of the programs to the region’s tourism industry.

Tan on Monday at MVA board meeting said that there have been many efforts to get together officials of the three jurisdictions’ tourism agencies.

“I just feel bad that for many years; it’s not for lack of trying. We did try, but for whatever reason they can’t seem to get together,” he added.

Tan expressed that MVA can discuss its apprehensions with its corresponding person on Guam and Palau and share probable solutions to common issue.

“Guam is experiencing flight reduction,” he added. “I think this time we should also look at Palau as well. I think there are certain policies that the Palau leadership is looking into which could also be beneficial to us,” Tan said.

In another interview, Gloria Cavanagh, the MVA board chair and Hotel Association of Northern Mariana Islands president explained that a meeting between CNMI, Guam and Palau tourism offices will be positive for the tourism of the region.

“Even though there’s competition, we do share lots of concerns, so we might be able to help each other, and hopefully it might be informative,” she said.

Chris Concepcion, the MVA Managing Director said the decrease in the number of flight services is an important topic that is probably be discussed in any such meeting.

“We can see that Guam has been hit hard with flight reduction from Japan starting in January since Delta Air Lines is pulling out of Guam,” he added.